Ford Super De Luxe Sportsman
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Automobilhersteller : |
Ford |
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Modell: |
Super De Luxe Sportsman |
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Jahr: |
1941-1948 |
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Art: |
Cabriolet |
The two previous Ford car lines, standard and De Luxe, had blossomed into three, Special, De Luxe, and Super De Luxe. This time, the entry-level 136 CID (2.2 L) V8 was deleted in favor of a new 226 CID (3.7 L) L-head straight-6, the first Ford six since the failed 1906 Model K. The popular 221 CID (3.6 L) V8 remained as the top-line engine and was standard in De Luxe models. Both engines were rated at 90 hp. The 239 CID engine, introduced in 1939 for Mercury and Trucks, was continued in the Mercury Models. The chassis was longer, with a 114 in (2896 mm) wheelbase.
The "ignition key" for these cars was actually used to operate a bolt lock which, on one end, unlocked the steering column (a feature destined to return, mandated, decades later), and on the other end unblocked the ignition switch, allowing it to be operated. Starting the car was then accomplished by pressing a pushbutton on the dashboard, another feature destined to return with the advent of "smart keys."
Although starting cranks had been replaced by electric starters for decades, Ford cars included a manual starting feature until 1948 as an antidote to dead-battery syndrome. The wheel-lug wrench served as a handle (also for the jack) and the jack shaft with bayonet-coupling pins could be inserted through a small hole in the grille to engage a bayonet socket on the forward end of the engine crankshaft. A quick-and-easy twist of the handle was sufficient to start the flat head V8, and the bayonet coupling was self-disengaging for safety.
1948 was the final year for the old-style Ford, with an all-new model launched partway through the year. The wood-sided Sportsman convertible would end this year with just 28 built, and the all-wood bodies on the woody station wagons would be replaced with steel for the 1949 season. The old car-based trucks were replaced by the F-Series this year.
